Perdido 03

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Critics Say Cuomo And Stringer More Concerned With Making Points Against De Blasio Than Solving Homelessness/Housing Problems

From this morning's Politico NY email update (story is behind a paywall):

HOUSING ADVOCATES ASSAIL CUOMO ON HOMELESS ISSUE -- POLITICO New York's Laura Nahmias:
A group of housing activists and advocates say Governor Andrew Cuomo
is more concerned about his feud with Mayor Bill de Blasio than he is
with finding solutions to the city's homeless problem. More than a dozen
advocacy groups, including VOCAL-NY and Make the Road New York, signed a
letter sent to Cuomo's Albany office, calling on the governor to match a
commitment made by de Blasio last month to create and pay for 15,000
new units of supportive housing over the next 15 years.

In the
letter, the groups accuse Cuomo of dedicating "more energy toward
attacking the Mayor, while offering none of the needed resources" to
address homelessness,
as the city's shelter populations hover around 58,000 residents.
Cuomo, whose spokeswoman late last month said de Blasio "can't manage"
the city's homeless problem, has signaled that he intends to announce
his own plan for addressing homelessness next month in his state of the
state address. READ THE LETTER: http://politi.co/1OeZqUV

Cuomo concerned more with scoring political points than solving a serious issue?

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration and members of the City Council
railed against Comptroller Scott Stringer on Thursday, following the
release of a report by his office which they say misrepresents de
Blasio’s affordable housing and rezoning plan for East New York.

Stringer's new 8-page report
argues, in part, that the administration's plans to rezone a portion of
East New York in Brooklyn are flawed. The report states that the
administration proposal, which needs City Council approval, would place
nearly 50,000 current residents living in the area "at an increased risk
of displacement."

...

Councilman Rafael Espinal, who represents parts of East New York
slated for the rezoning, said the comptroller is making a “caricature”
out of the numbers.

“I'm not interested in getting in the middle
of political squabbles,” Espinal told POLITICO New York. “This is not a
simple problem, and the numbers are caricature and not the full picture
of what I am pushing the final plan to look like. I've been working hard
with my community for many, many months to address the same concerns of
affordability and have been working with the administration to get them
addressed.”

Other council members, who spoke with POLITICO New
York on the condition of anonymity in order to preserve their
relationships with Stringer, said the report threatens to undermine the
efforts they are making to work out better deals with the
administration. Some went as far as suggesting Stringer is simply taking
a cheap shot at the mayor and inserting himself into a procedure he
plays no role in.

Council members pointed out the report does not
necessarily fall within Stringer’s purview, and questioned whether his
office is focusing on the areas the comptroller is actually supposed to
manage, like the public pension fund.

One member said, “I’m not
engaging with him, because Scott has absolutely no authority by City
charter and no involvement in any way, shape or form in the ULURP
process, it’s a little bit ridiculous.”

It's noteworthy when the council members who have been working on this issue for "many, many months" say Stringer's got no business inserting himself into it, has no authority by City charter to be involved in "any way, shape or form" and simply is looking to take a "cheap shot" at the mayor.